We may not be ready to see it because it hasn’t even been three full months since we watched Dr. Conrad Hawkins (Matt Czuchry) lose his wife, nurse practitioner Nic Nevin (Emily VanCamp), but in the world of The Resident, three years have passed. So is it time for Conrad to start dating someone else, perhaps even semi-seriously?
While Conrad did seem interested in Marion (Ana Mackenzie) — whom he met while she was looking after his daughter GiGi in daycare — it didn’t seem like either was looking for that to become anything serious during their conversation in bed in the winter finale. “We all need physical contact and we all want what we want,” executive producer Andrew Chapman previously told TV Insider.
“He’s dipping his toe into the water, so to speak,” he continued. “Having a little moment with Marion is moving forward, and we’ll see where that goes. It rears its head, that relationship, over the course of the next couple episodes, but other relationships, too. Matt Czuchry and creator Amy Holden Jones and all of us talk extensively about how much we believe Conrad would be ready to really have a solid relationship. He’s not a play the field kind of guy.”
That means that chances are we’re not going to see him sneaking women out of the house while distracting GiGi (which he and Marion did, also due to her separate relationship with the young girl). So fans would have to brace themselves for Conrad in a real relationship at some point going forward. After watching his and Nic’s love story for four seasons, are you ready to see him with someone else?
It also seems like The Resident could be teasing the possibility of a Conrad-Billie romance. Dr. Billie Sutton (Jessica Lucas) was Nic’s best friend, and there was a moment during which she was watching Conrad, GiGi, and Marion walk away that could have been her wanting to be part of it or maybe wishing she’d gotten that time with her own son, Trevor (Miles Fowler), whom she gave up for adoption. “The emotion on her face as she watches them go is so complicated and interesting,” Chapman said. “There’s a lot of connection between Billie and Conrad. They have history in Nic. They have love of a shared person. They have love of a new person in the world, GiGi, and that can lead to interesting things. So don’t discount it.”
So while we wait for the Fox medical drama to return (February 1), we can’t help but wonder what we’ll see from Conrad’s love life going forward this season. Conrad and Marion’s morning after scene seemed like it could have been a way of testing the waters, easing viewers into seeing someone at home with him and GiGi. After all, as Billie told Conrad, “You’re allowed, if you want… Nic wouldn’t want you to be alone forever, for your sake and for GiGi’s. You deserve to be happy.”
And it was Dr. AJ Austin’s (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) mother Carol (Summer Selby) who reminded Conrad to “prioritize” himself. He may have GiGi and his friends, but “are you happy?” she asked. Since returning to Chastain seemed to be the first step for that, officially putting himself back into the dating world may be another one. And it may be time for him to take that step forward, just like it had been time for him to get back to working where he belongs. But that may be easier to hear than see as a “CoNic” fan.
What do you think? Let us know in the poll below.
The Resident, Return, Tuesday, February 1, 8/7c, Fox
